Horner Chimes In On McLaren 'Number One' Conversation: 'They Pay Him Five Times As Much'

Wednesday, 18 September 2024 at 10:00

Updated at Wednesday, 18 September 2024 at 10:13

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner shared his opinion on McLaren's decision to prioritize Lando Norris before the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Over the past couple of Grand Prix weekends, McLaren has become the favorite for the Constructors' Championship title, and after the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the British team took over the lead in the provisional standings.

While it seems the Papaya team is on their way to snatch the Constructors' title, the Driver's Championship has been a much bigger headache for them.

Lando Norris seems to be the only driver that might still beat Max Verstappen. However, McLaren waited for quite a long time (and lost Norris some valuable points) before finally deciding they would prioritize the 24-year-old driver from Baku onward.

When Red Bull's F1 team principal Christian Horner was asked about this news, he admitted he was a bit confused about why the Papaya team hadn't done that earlier in the season, looking at how much they value Norris.

Horner started by explaining his philosophy of having a star driver like Max Verstappen on the team. As reported by GpBlog, he said:

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"I think that you can put yourself in all kinds of... Different teams operate different ways. When you've got an asset like Max Verstappen, you don't make him a number two driver."

"Lando Norris, they're paying five times what they paid Oscar. So I would assume that he would be their number one driver, or their biggest asset."

"So, therefore, the confusion comes when you're not upfront from the beginning of what your plans are."

What was interesting was that during the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the roles within McLaren were even reversed, and Lando Norris helped Oscar Piastri.

Without the 24-year-old's help, the Australian driver might not have won the race. Horner added that it's very clear in Red Bull what role each driver plays.

"We've got a driver that's fighting for a world championship. It's a team sport, so it's very clear that Checo's job is there to support Max to the end of the year.'"